Battle of Tolbiac
|result=Decisive Frankish victory End of Alamannic autonomy |combatant1=Franks |combatant2=Alamanni |commander1=Sigobert the Lame Clovis I |commander2= Gibuld |strength1=Unknown |strength2=Unknown |casualties1=very heavy |casualties2=heavy }} (Paris) by Paul-Joseph Blanc c. 1881.]] The Battle of Tolbiac was fought between the Franks, who were fighting under Clovis I, and the Alamanni, whose leader is not known. The date of the battle has traditionally been given as 496, though other accounts suggest it may have been fought in 506. The site of "Tolbiac", or "Tulpiacum", is usually given as Zülpich, North Rhine-Westphalia, about 60 km east of what is now the German-Belgian frontier. The Franks were successful at Tolbiac and established their dominance over the Alamanni. Background The Franks were two neighboring peoples, and allies: the Salian Franks, whose king was Clovis, and the Ripuarian Franks, whose capital was Cologne and whose king was Sigebert the Lame. Bordering on Sigebert's kingdom were the Alemanni, a confederation of Germanic tribes. Border incidents, looting and punitive raids multiplied between the Alemanni and Ripuarian Franks, but in 496 Sigebert suffered a real invasion and called on Clovis for help. Clovis responded favorably to his ally and raised an army. It is generally accepted that in defending Tolbiac, Sigebert and his army suffered heavy losses. There were two battles of Tolbiac. The battle Little is known about the battle, except that the Ripuarian Franks were probably of no help after the first battle. Clovis saw his warriors being killed and felt the battle was getting out of hand. Moved to tears, he called upon the God of his wife Clotilde, the God that she had preached to him since their marriage in 493, asking for his help. Gregory of Tours records Clovis's prayer in chapter II of the History of the Franks: "O Jesus Christ, you who as Clotilde tells me are the son of the Living God, you who give succor to those who are in danger, and victory to those accorded who hope in Thee, I seek the glory of devotion with your assistance: If you give me victory over these enemies, and if I experience the miracles that the people committed to your name say they have had, I believe in you, and I will be baptized in your name. Indeed, I invoked my gods, and, as I am experiencing, they failed to help me, which makes me believe that they are endowed with no powers, that they do not come to the aid of those who serve. It's to you I cry now, I want to believe in you if only I may be saved from my opponents." At these words, the Alemanni began to flee, as their leader had been killed with an axe. The Franks subdued or killed the remaining Alemanni. Account by Gregory of Tours Gregory of Tours was the first to have mentioned the element that has shaped subsequent interpretations of Tolbiac as a climactic in European history: Clovis is said to have attributed his success to a vow that he had made: if he won, he would convert to the religion of the Christian God who had aided him. He became a Christian in a ceremony at Reims at Christmas 496.Joseph H Lynch, Christianizing Kinship: Ritual Sponsorship in Anglo-Saxon England, (Cornell University Press, 1998), 39. "The most famous baptism in Frankish history was that of King Clovis (481-511), and its date has given rise to a great deal of scholarly dispute. A letter of Bishop Avitus of Vienne to Clovis indicated that the latter was baptized at Christmas, but opinion is split over which Christmas between 496 and 506." The traditional date of the battle of Tolbiac has been established to accord with this firmly attested baptismal date, by accepting Gregory's account. A surviving letter from Avitus of Vienne, congratulating Clovis on his baptism, makes no mention of the supposed recent battlefield conversion.See Daly 1994:640 and note. Historia Francorum ii.30-31 directly affirms a parallel Gregory establishes with the conversion of Constantine the Great before the Battle of Milvian Bridge: Consequences The Alemanni abandoned the Upper Rhine and left the Ripuarian Franks alone. Clovis, who profited only a little, and allowed his ally to retain the territory. Clovis later relied on Sigebert's assistance during the conquest of the French part of the Visigothic kingdom. Another consequence was the conversion of Clovis to Catholicism, after a long period of reflection (most historians believe his conversion dates to 498 or 499), which brought him the support of neighbouring Christians, along with that of the influential clergy. In addition, it allowed Clovis to undertake conquests and crusades to Christianise his new territories or expunge Arianism, considered heretics by the clergy. Date The traditional date of the battle in 496 was challenged by Augustine Van de Vyver, whose revised chronology placed the battle in 506. This was extensively debated and is followed in some modern accounts.A single Frankish-Alemannic combat, in summer 506, is presented, for example, in J.M. Wallace-Hadrill, Long-Haired Kings p 168, or Rolf Weiss, Chlodwigs Taufe: Reims 508 (Bern) 1971; the debate is briefly summarised in William M. Daly, "Clovis: How Barbaric, How Pagan?" Speculum 69.3 (July 1994, pp. 619-664) p 620 note. The date of 506 also follows Gregory's chronology, which places the death of Childeric around the same time as that of St. Pertpetuus, who died in 491. Hence 15 years from 491 would be 506.Claude Gauvard, La France au Moyen Âge du Ve au XVe siècle develops slightly different assumptions about the dating of the Battle of Tolbiac, some historians believe the battle was in 506, due to a letter of Theodoric, king of the Ostrogoths, in which he congratulated the great victory of Clovis on Alemanni. On the other hand, in Michèle Laforest on Clovis, un roi de légende of 1996, when this battle called Tolbiac is set in the year of 496. Childeric's grave contained coins of Emperor Zeno, who died in 491, but none after. Notes Category:490s conflicts Tolbiac 496 Tolbiac 496 Tolbiac 496 Category:496 in Europe